Come Away with Me.
Come Away with Me.
It's never too late.
It's not too late.
It's not too late for you.
I have a plan for you.
I have a plan for you. It's gonna be wild.
It's gonna be great.
It's going to be full of Me. - "Come Away," Jesus Culture
How do you document faith? How do you write up miracles? How do you describe when the air of the room is so thick with the Presence of God you have a hard time breathing, walking, thinking?
I am tasked with documenting this last week in my prayer life but I'm not really sure I can because the eternal magnitude is too big to understand much less communicate. I want to revert back to the old saying - you just had to be there. I can say, though, that I was and you can be too. These promises, these experiences, these moments when the light of the Son of God is so bright, your eyes hurt, can be yours too. Open up your heart and let Me in.
This year has been the start of a ground-breaking project to build a new family - for me, for my church, for the Body of Christ in Houston. Not because what we had before was bad - it was very good. Still, as I said last week, God isn't in the "good" business. He is constantly working for OUR BEST. When Jesus' family came to get Him because they thought He was a whack-job and finally lost it completely - He said, Who do you think my mother and brothers are?...Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys my heavenly Father’s will is my brother and sister and mother.
I look back and laugh at what I thought was BEST but not in derision. I thank God for where I came from. I know my parents prayed for me in my Prodigal phase (no doubt before then). I know 2 faithful women's prayers availed much because I came back to Christ. I know the ladies Bible Study in Trinidad expanded my mind about faith and life in a way no Bible Study in the States ever could. I got my calling as a writer, as "scribe" there. The power of the prayers by the global church for Sophia's healing unlocked the door and let it in.
As I testified last night, though, He didn't just heal her, though that would have been more than enough. He healed me of anxiety disorder and PTSD too. That's what happens to caregivers, we carry emotional wounds too deep to explain. But I'm free of those. By the miraculous grace of God - I AM FREE!
The Lord is currently honoring the prayers of the generations before us and we get to be the torch-bearers. Revival isn't just coming, it is here. I can prove it. You go to my Facebook account and it is there. You come to my church and it is there. You come to Monday night prayer at The Source for Women, it is there. It is in so many places and the Lord is connecting all the little campfires into one big blazing beacon for the lost, lonely, hurting.
The fruit and the gifts of the Spirit are in abundance. Only 2 weeks ago, I participated in the deliverance of a young man who is now so precious to me (and others). That's what happens when you watch someone resurrected from spiritual, emotional, mental and in some respects, physical death. Then last week, his mother was set free from 28 years of bitterness.
Sunday it was my turn. My pastor and dearest friend used me as a sermon prop, speaking my love language, recognizing the callouses on my knees and heart for this community of faith. Then Monday night, I worked in prayer with others to pray in the full magnitude of the Lord unleashing Himself on this city.
Then there was Wednesday - yesterday - last night. The Release. A City-wide prayer and praise service that we all knew was going to be huge. After lunch, I spent 90 minutes walking the quiet, darkened room while Ella took a nap in the back. Before she fell asleep, she (of course) saw an angel. She said his name was "Christian," so I can only assume he was about 6'1", 215 and had Hershey's Kiss colored skin. It's been awhile since she'd told me she was seeing an angel, and if you have time, go back on this blog and read the other accounts. They are hair-raising.
While she slept, I got "undignified" before the Lord. I danced like a fiend. Good thing no one was around and I truly hope the cameras were off. I've NEVER been like that, but I was so free, totally uninhibited. No loincloths were used, but I was sweating like I ran a few miles - and I might have.
Left to get The Olders from school and then went back to the church with Sophia at 6-ish pm (David took Natalie to her softball game....pray for her, her team is struggling!). Ella stayed with a wonderful babysitter the Lord provided at the last minute. Sophia reminded me at 10:15 pm when we got home, we never ate dinner.
I told her that was ok, because we'd just feasted at the Lord's Table. (She was not impressed.)
The room/the service was primed ("fertile" as my friend Moseka said) and from the very beginning we knew it was going to be another level. The music built, the praise began. Confession was made and then 3 people got up to testify.
One of the most precious moments of my life will be Sophia and I standing there on stage. All I said was, "She is healed and whole from cancer," and the room erupted. It was as if the Heavenly Host came down, the noise was deafening. A wall of praise hit us in the face.
I'm crying about it right now as I write the words. I'm pretty sure she will remember it for the rest of her life too.
Following all the testimonies, the real work began. All over the room, people were being freed, delivered, healed. After prayer, a lady who came in on crutches was able to put weight on her foot that, to that point, wasn't healing properly. And her caregiver sister was freed too. Prayed for lots of people, including the husband of my long-time Bible Study leader and mentor in faith. He is in treatment for cancer and he had tears on his face when we finished. He and everyone there received the life-changing touch of Holy Spirit power.
At one point I sat down with another precious new brother in faith, Oliver. He put his arm around me and we took stock of what was going on...taking inventory of the Holy Spirit (important for a scribe to do but a wonderful moment for me because Oliver is one who experienced his own freedom only 2 months ago, at the February Release.)
It didn't stop, more work. The picture is me praying and speaking into a little girl who is in Natalie's class. The Lord broke her, her brother and her Mama of generations of cursing in this very moment. (The young man in the red is the one I mentioned being delivered 2 weeks ago...he is already going to the mat with the enemy for others...that's what family does for each other and now he knows what it means to be in the family of God.)
We worked, labored, travailed and PREVAILED in prayer for another 90 minutes. Moseka said it was "the afterglow." Pretty sure we all had a very difficult time falling asleep. You don't really feel like you need it after a night like that. Oh sure, later today it will catch up with me, especially as I was woken before 5 from a dream about where things are and where they are going.
I know this is a really long post, but I can't help it. I'll try and sum this week up in 3 words....
Tender - the tender mercies that are new every morning are no joke.
Extravagant - the Love of God is truly four-dimensional; wider, deeper, higher and longer than we can understand. I will spend the rest of my life trying to touch the borders but I know I'll never get close.
Real - I ended a Facebook post with this statement last night (when I couldn't sleep):
"Prove God exists and still does the stuff in the Bible, you say. I can. Come see for yourself, May 27th, 7 pm, 11140 Greenbay, Houston, 77024. #iamlivingproof"
Open up your heart and let Me in.
Prayer, praise, is to invite the Lord God, the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the UNIVERSE into your life. When you really go there with Him, you will never be the same. Ever. I am not. And I'll never stop being thankful for it.
Come Away with Me.
It's never too late.
It's not too late.
It's not too late for you.
I have a plan for you.
I have a plan for you. It's gonna be wild.
It's gonna be great.
It's going to be full of Me. - "Come Away," Jesus Culture
How do you document faith? How do you write up miracles? How do you describe when the air of the room is so thick with the Presence of God you have a hard time breathing, walking, thinking?
I am tasked with documenting this last week in my prayer life but I'm not really sure I can because the eternal magnitude is too big to understand much less communicate. I want to revert back to the old saying - you just had to be there. I can say, though, that I was and you can be too. These promises, these experiences, these moments when the light of the Son of God is so bright, your eyes hurt, can be yours too. Open up your heart and let Me in.
This year has been the start of a ground-breaking project to build a new family - for me, for my church, for the Body of Christ in Houston. Not because what we had before was bad - it was very good. Still, as I said last week, God isn't in the "good" business. He is constantly working for OUR BEST. When Jesus' family came to get Him because they thought He was a whack-job and finally lost it completely - He said, Who do you think my mother and brothers are?...Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys my heavenly Father’s will is my brother and sister and mother.
I look back and laugh at what I thought was BEST but not in derision. I thank God for where I came from. I know my parents prayed for me in my Prodigal phase (no doubt before then). I know 2 faithful women's prayers availed much because I came back to Christ. I know the ladies Bible Study in Trinidad expanded my mind about faith and life in a way no Bible Study in the States ever could. I got my calling as a writer, as "scribe" there. The power of the prayers by the global church for Sophia's healing unlocked the door and let it in.
As I testified last night, though, He didn't just heal her, though that would have been more than enough. He healed me of anxiety disorder and PTSD too. That's what happens to caregivers, we carry emotional wounds too deep to explain. But I'm free of those. By the miraculous grace of God - I AM FREE!
The Lord is currently honoring the prayers of the generations before us and we get to be the torch-bearers. Revival isn't just coming, it is here. I can prove it. You go to my Facebook account and it is there. You come to my church and it is there. You come to Monday night prayer at The Source for Women, it is there. It is in so many places and the Lord is connecting all the little campfires into one big blazing beacon for the lost, lonely, hurting.
The fruit and the gifts of the Spirit are in abundance. Only 2 weeks ago, I participated in the deliverance of a young man who is now so precious to me (and others). That's what happens when you watch someone resurrected from spiritual, emotional, mental and in some respects, physical death. Then last week, his mother was set free from 28 years of bitterness.
Sunday it was my turn. My pastor and dearest friend used me as a sermon prop, speaking my love language, recognizing the callouses on my knees and heart for this community of faith. Then Monday night, I worked in prayer with others to pray in the full magnitude of the Lord unleashing Himself on this city.
Then there was Wednesday - yesterday - last night. The Release. A City-wide prayer and praise service that we all knew was going to be huge. After lunch, I spent 90 minutes walking the quiet, darkened room while Ella took a nap in the back. Before she fell asleep, she (of course) saw an angel. She said his name was "Christian," so I can only assume he was about 6'1", 215 and had Hershey's Kiss colored skin. It's been awhile since she'd told me she was seeing an angel, and if you have time, go back on this blog and read the other accounts. They are hair-raising.
While she slept, I got "undignified" before the Lord. I danced like a fiend. Good thing no one was around and I truly hope the cameras were off. I've NEVER been like that, but I was so free, totally uninhibited. No loincloths were used, but I was sweating like I ran a few miles - and I might have.
Left to get The Olders from school and then went back to the church with Sophia at 6-ish pm (David took Natalie to her softball game....pray for her, her team is struggling!). Ella stayed with a wonderful babysitter the Lord provided at the last minute. Sophia reminded me at 10:15 pm when we got home, we never ate dinner.
I told her that was ok, because we'd just feasted at the Lord's Table. (She was not impressed.)
The room/the service was primed ("fertile" as my friend Moseka said) and from the very beginning we knew it was going to be another level. The music built, the praise began. Confession was made and then 3 people got up to testify.
One of the most precious moments of my life will be Sophia and I standing there on stage. All I said was, "She is healed and whole from cancer," and the room erupted. It was as if the Heavenly Host came down, the noise was deafening. A wall of praise hit us in the face.
I'm crying about it right now as I write the words. I'm pretty sure she will remember it for the rest of her life too.
Following all the testimonies, the real work began. All over the room, people were being freed, delivered, healed. After prayer, a lady who came in on crutches was able to put weight on her foot that, to that point, wasn't healing properly. And her caregiver sister was freed too. Prayed for lots of people, including the husband of my long-time Bible Study leader and mentor in faith. He is in treatment for cancer and he had tears on his face when we finished. He and everyone there received the life-changing touch of Holy Spirit power.
At one point I sat down with another precious new brother in faith, Oliver. He put his arm around me and we took stock of what was going on...taking inventory of the Holy Spirit (important for a scribe to do but a wonderful moment for me because Oliver is one who experienced his own freedom only 2 months ago, at the February Release.)
It didn't stop, more work. The picture is me praying and speaking into a little girl who is in Natalie's class. The Lord broke her, her brother and her Mama of generations of cursing in this very moment. (The young man in the red is the one I mentioned being delivered 2 weeks ago...he is already going to the mat with the enemy for others...that's what family does for each other and now he knows what it means to be in the family of God.) We worked, labored, travailed and PREVAILED in prayer for another 90 minutes. Moseka said it was "the afterglow." Pretty sure we all had a very difficult time falling asleep. You don't really feel like you need it after a night like that. Oh sure, later today it will catch up with me, especially as I was woken before 5 from a dream about where things are and where they are going.
I know this is a really long post, but I can't help it. I'll try and sum this week up in 3 words....
Tender - the tender mercies that are new every morning are no joke.
Extravagant - the Love of God is truly four-dimensional; wider, deeper, higher and longer than we can understand. I will spend the rest of my life trying to touch the borders but I know I'll never get close.
Real - I ended a Facebook post with this statement last night (when I couldn't sleep):
"Prove God exists and still does the stuff in the Bible, you say. I can. Come see for yourself, May 27th, 7 pm, 11140 Greenbay, Houston, 77024. #iamlivingproof"
Open up your heart and let Me in.
Prayer, praise, is to invite the Lord God, the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the UNIVERSE into your life. When you really go there with Him, you will never be the same. Ever. I am not. And I'll never stop being thankful for it.
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